BUFFALO, N.Y. — Carrying a message from his Brooklyn home, New York State Conservative Party Chair Jerry Kassar said many people in New York City with wide-ranging political views remain troubled by the migrant situation there.

"I think what people assume is that in New York City many of the residents have come to accept this,” Kassar said. “We have a major homeless problem and it doesn't take much to figure out if you have a major homeless problem, bringing in tens of thousands of migrants is not going to help things out.”

Discussing the issue in Western New York, Kassar says he also understands the fears of Upstate communities, many of which have instituted emergency orders in an effort to keep migrants out. He said people should not be afraid of the people who are seeking asylum and a better life.

"You should be afraid about the concept that your county and your homes, your towns, are not going to be governed by what you think it should be but you're going to be tortured by New York City policies," he said.

In a broad interview, Kassar was also critical of the New York State Legislature for what he says was not just a late, but flawed budget document relying too much on federal money that may never materialize. The chair said the Legislature would do well to at least involve Republican party leadership more in conversations.

"Republicans in the Legislature have a lot of good ideas and when you start your day deciding that you will not even accept their ideas or discuss their ideas, you are the stupid person," he said.

Kassar said there are many local elections his party is paying attention to this year but acknowledges it’s difficult not to look ahead to 2024 when there will be a U.S. Senate and presidential race. He said the Conservative Party is having preliminary conversations about potential challengers to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, but nobody yet, including former gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin and former Senate candidate Joe Pinion, has indicated they are ready to take the next step.

"I would anticipate some stronger names coming forward as we get more to the end of the year because I think people will start looking at the overarching value of a strong ticket like we had with Lee Zeldin," Kassar said.

The Conservative Party does not have a statewide primary to select its candidates but Kassar says he will be watching the Republican presidential primary in New York with interest. He said he has had conversations with several candidates and their staff but will cross endorse whoever the GOP nominee is.

"We're going to have a strong ticket as far as the conservative philosophy is concerned. President Trump is clearly the leader right now and if he's the nominee it will be three times in a row for us," Kassar said.

As a minor party, Kassar says Conservatives must always be cognizant of the 2% threshold required to keep ballot access. He said in a presidential election that should be somewhere around 170,000 to 190,000 votes on the Conservative line.